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At least one challenger defeated an incumbent in four out of the nine competitive school board elections in Bexar County on Saturday.
Most San Antonio area school board trustees running for re-election still won. There will be familiar faces on the dais in Medina Valley, Comal, Harlandale, Alamo Heights, and Southwest ISD.
But some challengers defeated incumbents in Northside, Boerne, Judson, and San Antonio ISD.
There will be three new trustees in Judson — two were open seats — and two new trustees in Northside and SAISD. Boerne lost one incumbent and retained another, and Alamo Heights will welcome one new trustee after the incumbent decided not to run for re-election.
Northside’s teacher union backed both of their new trustees. SAISD’s teacher union gained one union-backed trustee and lost another.
Alamo Heights ISD
Alamo Heights ISD had three at-large trustee seats on the ballot, but only one competitive race.
Karen Bryant defeated Tim Blazi to win Place 2 on the school board, which was left open after Brian C. Hamilton chose not to run for re-election.
Place 1 Trustee David Hornberger and Place 4 Trustee Hunter Kingman ran unopposed and are duly elected. Hornberger has been on the AHISD board since 2016. Kingman was appointed to the board in November 2024 after former trustee Stacy Sharp resigned to focus on a new judgeship.
Boerne ISD
Boerne ISD had two at-large trustee seats up for election, and both seats were competitive.
In Place 4, incumbent Martiza Gonzalez-Cooper lost to challenger Sarah Faulkenberry. And in Place 5, incumbent Garrett Wilson won re-election, defeating Scott Newberry.
Although Boerne ISD is located partially in Bexar County, the district chose to jointly conduct its May election with Kendall County, where the district is primarily located.
Comal ISD
Comal ISD had two trustee seats up for election, and both were competitive.
In single-member district 6, incumbent Amanda Jones won re-election, defeating Giovianne Washington. And in single-member district 7, incumbent David Krawczynski also won, defeating Orlando OJ Dona.
Comal ISD worked with both Comal County and Bexar County to conduct elections. Voters could go to their usual polling places to cast their ballots.
Harlandale ISD
Harlandale ISD had four trustee seats up for election, but only two of the four races were competitive.
In Single Member District 2, incumbent Erica Salazar defeated challenger David Sosa. And in Single Member District 4, incumbent Norma Cavazos defeated David Abundis.
The incumbent for Single Member District 1, Juan Mancha, and the incumbent for Single Member District 3, Louie Luna, ran unopposed and were duly re-elected.
Judson ISD
Judson ISD had four trustee seats up for election, and all four races were competitive.
In Single Member District 2, Monique Robinson and Stephanie Jones competed for an open seat. Stephanie Jones won the seat.
In Single Member District 3, Christopher Anderson and Lesley Lee also vied for an open seat. Lee won the race.
In Single Member District 4, incumbent José Macias Jr. narrowly defeated challenger Bianca Hulsey.
In Single Member District 5, incumbent Arnoldo Salinas lost to challenger Amanda Poteet.
Medina Valley ISD
Medina Valley ISD had three trustee seats up for election, and two of the three races were competitive.
In Single Member District 1, Benito Juarez and Al Anaya ran to fill a two-year unexpired term. Ben Juarez was appointed to the position last May to fill a vacancy. Juarez won the race by less than 10 votes.
In Single Member District 3, incumbent Matt Castiglione was challenged by Toby Castillo Walters. Castiglione won re-election by less than 15 votes.
In Single Member District 4, Suzanne Lee ran unopposed and was duly elected.
MVISD held the election jointly with both Bexar County and Medina County, and voters could go to their usual polling places to cast their ballots.
Northside ISD
Northside ISD had four trustee seats up for election, and all four of the races were competitive.
In Single Member District 2, four candidates vied for a seat that has been filled by Homer Guevara Jr. since he was appointed to the board last year. Guevara faced three challengers: Sonia Jasso, Richard Delgado Jr., and Mary Olison. Jasso won by a significant margin, with more than twice the number of votes as any other candidate. The other three candidates split 49% of the vote between them.
In Single Member District 5, incumbent Corrine Saldaña was challenged by Laura Zapata. Zapata won with 55% of the vote.
In Single Member District 6, incumbent Carol Harle was challenged by Nicolette Ardiente. Harle was re-elected with 58% of the vote.
In Single Member District 7, incumbent Karen Freeman was challenged by Larissa Martinez. Freeman narrowly won re-election with 51% of the vote.
Northside AFT, the union that represents the district’s teachers and support personnel, endorsed a slate of candidates running in all four races against the incumbents: Jasso in D2, Zapata in D5, Ardiente in D6, and Martinez in D7.
Jasso and Zapata’s election places two more union-backed trustees on the board, potentially making a majority of the board favorable to the union.
Trustees Karla Duran and David Salcido were also endorsed by Northside AFT when they ran in 2023.
“We're very excited about the numbers that are coming in for both Coach Laura Zapata and for Dr. Sonia Jasso,” Northside AFT President Melina Espiritu-Azocar said in a phone interview after the first election night results came in. “Our continuous goal was to ensure that the working people of this district have a voice, and we feel at this point that that is what we can see happening right now.”
Sonia Jasso works with the high school programs at Palo Alto College.
She said she wants to make sure the students of Northside have access to opportunities.
“Opportunities that I myself was not able to do, because when I tried to do dual credit, it was a financial cost to it that my family just couldn't do,” Jasso said.
“In any role that I do, I feel like students always come first. But it is also crucial to make sure that teachers and support staff are also supported, because they are really the ones doing the day to day work,” she added.
Laura Zapata is an assistant principal at SAISD’s Edison High School who previously worked as an athletic coordinator and P.E. teacher.
She said she was inspired to run for the school board because she’s seen so many friends and fellow educators “go through it since COVID.”
“I’m seeing a lot of people getting burnt out,” Zapata said. “It’s really heavy right now for teachers, and I see it. I feel it.”
Zapata said she wants to make sure Northside teachers have the time they need to plan and grade, and to increase pay for hourly workers like bus drivers.
“Northside has always been known as a destination district for teachers, but it needs to be a destination district for bus drivers, for custodians,” Zapata said. “We are the fourth largest school district in the state of Texas, and we need to lead.”
SAISD, where Zapata is a campus administrator, has a higher starting salary for hourly workers than Northside does.
San Antonio ISD
San Antonio ISD had four trustee seats up for election, but only two of them were competitive.
In Single Member District 1, incumbent Sarah Sorensen was challenged by Mike Villarreal. Villarreal won with 54% of the vote.
In Single Member District 3, incumbent Leticia Ozuna was challenged by Jacob Aaron Ramos. Ramos won with 60% of the vote.
Single Member District 4 incumbent Arthur Valdez and Single Member District 7 incumbent Ed Garza ran unopposed and are duly re-elected.
The San Antonio Alliance, which represents SAISD teachers and support personnel, endorsed D1 incumbent Sorensen and D3 challenger Ramos. Sorensen’s loss and Ramos’ win leaves the union with the same number of union-backed trustees on the board as they had before the election.
Southwest ISD
Southwest ISD had two at-large trustee seats up for election, with voters given the option to vote for two out of four candidates.
Incumbents Ida Perez Sudolcan and Sylvester Vasquez Jr. easily defeated challengers Erlinda Lopez-Rodriguez and Pablo Manzanares. Sudolcan and Vasquez have both been on the board for over 20 years.
SWISD is located entirely inside Bexar County, but because the district conducts its election in an unusual way, voters were not able to go to any Bexar County polling place to vote for the SWISD school board. The SWISD election is on a separate ballot only available at a handful of polling places.
Southside ISD
Southside ISD had three at-large trustee seats up for election, but only one candidate filed for each position.
The election was canceled and did not appear on the ballot, but incumbents Brenda Olivarez, Mary Bell Unger-Robles, and Jesus Jesse Hernandez were duly re-elected.
